
Greta Thunberg Pops Up in Riot-Hit France, Cheers on Student Protesters
Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist turned pro-Hamas agitator who became the face of the Gaza flotilla movement, was spotted in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, attending one of the student protests that have engulfed France since mid-September.
In the footage, Thunberg, who is wearing a keffiyeh, can be seen smiling.
“We are inspired by the young people who are demanding their basic rights,” she told reporters outside Lycée Paul Éluard, a high school, where students were gathering.
“Whether it’s not funding schools enough, or the climate crisis, or social injustice crises … it’s about time that young people are stepping up and reclaiming that future.”
It seems that sooner or later, if there is a riot, Thunberg will be there.
The protests erupted against the backdrop of weakening growth and burgeoning debt as the government has struggled to perform basic tasks such as passing a budget since President Emmanuel Macron and his allies lost their majority in a parliamentary vote about two years ago.
Students are protesting a long school day that begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. Others have cited unsanitary conditions such as rat infestations and leaking pipes.
Weeks of demonstrations and rioting have swept across the country in cities such as Marseille, Nantes, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Lyon, Rennes, and Paris, with protesters holding signs that said, “The state has killed national education.”
At times, the protests turned violent, as protesters lit fires in the streets and police used tear gas, batons, and non-lethal grenades to disperse the crowds, leading to more than 6,000 arrests, as well as injuries among more than 700 police officers.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said last week that the protests were the biggest in decades, telling lawmakers that at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff members have been injured in the riots. He said that this constitutes “the heaviest toll in decades paid by the school system.”